And yet, somehow I had never read it (or watched it) until now. (Yes, I’m also one of those people who has somehow managed to make it this far without ever seeing The Sound of Music…).

But even without a past experience with it, I knew what I was getting into. The shrinking and growing, the Mad Hatter and White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat’s smile, the murderous Queen of Hearts, the hookah-smoking caterpillar, the flamingo croquet.

It’s all got such cultural reference that I felt like I was visiting an old friend.

I’m not going to attempt to analyze this book. That’s been done a million times over by people a million times smarter than me. I’m just sharing my experience.

It’s a book of the bizarre, certainly.

I’ve often heard this book discussed in regard to drugs. And I understand that. The endless wordplay and nonsense and abrupt transitions are enough to make anyone feel out of sorts.

But I think that’s an after-the-fact perspective lens that just so happens to make a little sense. I think this book is exactly what it purports to be: a silly, non-moralistic tale told to a little girl. (I will admit, though, the creepy stuff about the real Alice and Lewis Carroll does get me.)

My favorite parts were with the Mock Turtle. The whole book is frustratingly nonsensical, but the wordplay and puns really kicks it up a notch here.

“The master was an old Turtle — we used to call him Tortoise–“

“Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn’t one?” Alice asked.

“We called him Tortoise because he taught us…”

I actually laughed.

I don’t feel like I’m spoiling anything by saying that we all know Wonderland is a dream. My one disappointment is that Carroll didn’t just leave it as a dream. After Alice wakes up, there’s a brief page or two of her sister trying to recapture Wonderland, but in doing so, giving it all a logical meaning. We all know the feeling of dream sirens turning out to be our morning alarms, etc. And maybe if Carroll had just left it with the playing cards attacking Alice turning out to be the leaves that had drifted down during her sleep, I wouldn’t be so bummed about it all having some logic to it.

But the whole book is such a frustrating mind warp that it’s kind of a bummer for it to lose it’s charm right at the end.

Don’t worry – I’m still a fan. And it’s still a silly adventure ready and waiting for the best of us.